Dax
A unisex name of unknown origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 11,350 living Americans carry the first name Dax. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dax today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dax births was 2019 (749 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dax. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dax with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Dax is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,199 Americans
Peak year
2019
749 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#636
Tracked since 1967
Census
Dax in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,427 people with the first name Dax, which placed it at #2,767 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,767
National first-name rank
People counted
8.4K
8,427 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dax
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dax is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.5%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dax described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dax at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.9% · 6,477
- Hispanic or Latino10.5% · 884
- Two or more races6.3% · 531
- Black or African American3.2% · 268
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 176
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 91
Gender
Gender distribution for Dax
Out of the 11,540 babies given the name Dax since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Dax as a male name
- Ranked #636 in 2024
- 438 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (749 births)
Dax as a female name
- Ranked #15,692 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2015 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dax appears almost entirely male. Of the 8,427 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Dax: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dax from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 5,007 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Dax remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dax by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dax during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dax' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. Texas, California, Utah recorded the most babies named Dax, while Connecticut, New Mexico, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 201 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dax
The given name Dax has its origins in the Frisian language, which is spoken in the coastal regions of the Netherlands and Germany. The name is believed to have derived from the Old Frisian word "dak," meaning "roof" or "shelter." This suggests that the name may have been associated with concepts of protection, security, or shelter in its early use.
Historically, the name Dax has been recorded in various ancient texts and documents from the Frisian region. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Frisian legal text known as the "Lex Frisionum," which dates back to the 8th century AD. This text mentions individuals with the name Dax, indicating its use during the medieval period.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Dax was a Frisian chieftain who lived in the 9th century AD. While his exact name is not known, he was referred to as "Dax the Strong" in chronicles of the time, suggesting he was a formidable leader and warrior.
In the 12th century, a monk named Dax is mentioned in the records of the Benedictine monastery in Egmond, Netherlands. This Dax is believed to have been a scribe and scholar, contributing to the preservation of historical texts and manuscripts during that era.
Moving forward in time, a renowned Dutch painter named Dax van der Meer lived in the 16th century (1530-1591). He was known for his portraiture and religious works, which adorned churches and private collections throughout the Netherlands.
Another notable figure with the name Dax was Dax von Hesslingen, a German military officer who served during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). He is recorded as having played a significant role in several battles and campaigns during this prolonged conflict.
In more recent centuries, the name Dax has been used sporadically, but its historical roots can be traced back to the Frisian language and culture, where it likely originated as a name associated with protection, shelter, and strength.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Dax
People
Dax + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dax as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dax: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dax?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,350 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dax going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 30,199 US residents.
Is Dax a common name?
We classify Dax as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,540 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dax most popular?
The single biggest year for Dax was 2019, when 749 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dax is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dax in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,427 people with the name Dax, or 2.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,767 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dax in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dax?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dax appears almost entirely male. Of the 8,427 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dax?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dax is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.5%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dax most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dax in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.9% (6,477 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dax in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dax a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Dax in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Dax still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dax in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dax can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Dax?
Want to know how many Americans are named Dax? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.